With public funeral for Tibetan soldier, Delhi sends a signal to Beijing

In a sharp signal of a shift in the Government of India’s policy on publicly acknowledging the 58-year-old “Special Frontier Force”, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav and BJP MP from Ladakh Jamgyal Tsering Namgyal attended the funeral of Company Leader Nyima Tenzin who, military sources said, was killed in an accidental mine blast during patrolling in Ladakh last week. “Attended the funeral of SFF Company Leader Nyima Tenzin, a Tibetan who laid down his life protecting our borders in Ladakh,” wrote Mr. Madhav in a tweet on Monday, adding, “Let the sacrifices of such valiant soldiers bring peace along the Indo-Tibetan border. Amid the stand-off The presence of Mr. Madhav, a senior leader of the ruling party, at the funeral and the public acknowledgement of the SFF’s role in operations along the Line of Actual Control was seen by many commentators as a strong message by New Delhi to Beijing at a time the Indian and Chinese forces are engaged in a four-month stand-off along the LAC in Ladakh, and three days before External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is due to meet his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Moscow. Former Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said, “While mourning the unfortunate death of the brave Company leader Nyima Tenzin, it would have been wise to avoid unnecessary publicity about the SFF and their ostensible Tibet ‘connection’ in an atmosphere already charged along the LAC between India and China” This probably was the reason for the tweet being deleted later, she added.